


QMS 11 5

by Deacon_Heller



Series: Quantum Mirror Series [16]
Category: Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26936917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deacon_Heller/pseuds/Deacon_Heller
Summary: The organism has reached the camp by the gate and SG10 must keep it from escaping while dodging plasma blasts from a three way firefight.
Series: Quantum Mirror Series [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965412





	QMS 11 5

Carter quickly snatched the rifle that Jackson took from Robinson and led Ford, Colt, and Natock through the halls of the ships down four levels into a power junction room. Colt stood beside her as she worked while Ford and Natock covered both directions of the hall just outside the door. After a moment the lights went out and the engines slowly spun down to stillness. "Ok, it's done."

Everyone switched on the flash lights mounted on their rifles. "Where else could it fly the ship other than the bridge?"

"My best guess would be the engine room," She said, as she passed him and started down the hall. They quickly walked behind her as she led them down two more levels to a large heavy set of open double doors. She stopped twenty feet from the doors. 

"All right, follow me," Ford ordered.

Ford went through the doors first and then turned to his right, moving along the wall. Carter went next, and went along the left wall. Colt and Natock went into the center of the room, scanning the area for any signs of danger. 

When they saw no signs of the creature they followed Carter to the center of the room and stood around her as she examined the control station. "It was definitely here," Carter said, wiping organic fluids from the control. She put her hands over the bulbous white buttons and tried to figure out what the creature had done to activate the engines. 

"Where is it now?" Ford asked. 

"I can't te..." Carter stopped when a thick stream of purple gelatinous liquid drizzled over her hand. She looked up and saw the creature clinging to the core that hung down from the ceiling. Carter lifted her flame thrower, but the creature fell on her and crushed her body. Ford, Colt, and Natock each opened fire on the creature but it moved quickly back and forth, preparing to charge them. 

Natock looked at the twitching android just in front of the creature and the tank she had on her back. Natock fired three shots at the tank before it exploded and engulfed the creature in fire. It lit up the engine room in a brilliant yellow and orange light as the heat washed over the three of them, but they kept firing on the creature as it was immolated. 

All three kept firing for several seconds after the creature stopped moving. They stood there watching it burn, waiting to make sure it was dead. After a few moments, Ford finally relaxed his rifle and turned towards the door of the engine room to walk away. He reached the door when the lights came back on and the engines began humming again.

"Shit!" Ford snapped, as he started jogging down the hall back to the Naquadah generator. Colt and Natock ran after him until they reached the hall a dozen feet from the room. Ford skidded to a halt when Dr. Dalen walked out of the room looking at Ford.

"I have the engines back on line Sergeant," The dead scientist said.

Ford stared at the creature in shock for a second. It looked exactly like the dead scientist, down to the bullet hole in his uniform. Ford lifted his rifle and fired plasma bolts at it. Colt and Natock joined in firing on the creature. They slowly approached the flailing creature as it retreated from the plasma fire. It tried to lurch away, staggering to reach another doorway but the concentrated plasma was more than it could withstand. 

The creature fell over and split in half at the waist. It tried to break into two and run away, but it couldn't generate limbs fast enough to escape. Eventually they killed the creature, but continued to fire until its remains were little more than a smoking stain on the deck. 

The stench of plasma, smoke, and burned flesh filled the hallway with another, more acrid smell that was unique to the creature itself. 

"He was dead, wasn't he?" Colt asked Ford.

"As dead as two rounds to the heart will make you," Ford answered. 

"Then it can consume and assimilate dead flesh as well," Natock added. 

"At least partially," Colt growled. "It didn't seem to know that Dalen was supposed to be dead."

"Looks that way," Ford said, looking at Colt. "Get the generator off line, and make sure that no one can just plug it back in."

Colt nodded his head and ducked into the room. A moment later the lights went back out and the engines slowly spun down again. Colt came back out, slipping something into his thigh pocket. "Ok."

"Jac-bot?" Ford said, tapping his ear piece. 

"What?" Jackson sighed, annoyed at the nickname. 

"Is the bridge still secure?"

"Yes. What's going on with the power?"

"We had to pull the plug on the generator so the creature couldn't fly the ship out of here. We're gonna be in the dark for a little while."

"And our Carter got barbequed," Colt added. 

"Also, we killed a creature that was pretending to be Dalen."

"Really?" Jackson asked. 

"Yeah, so don't answer the door for any dead people," Colt added.

"We're going to search for Erusha and Lyspin now," Ford said. 

"Sergeant Ford?" The second Jackson asked. 

"This is Ford."

"Did you authorize Dr. Carrel to leave the ship?" 

"Dr. Carrel is dead. Why?"

"Never mind," Jackson said as he lifted his flame thrower and sprayed the scientist standing a dozen feet in front of him. The creature instantly exploded into tentacles and reached out in several directions trying to pull itself away from the fire, but Jackson continued to shower it in fire until the creature went still and burned. 

"The creature tried to impersonate a dead man, did it just approach you?" Ford asked. 

"It tried, but I found the bullet holes suspicious," Jackson said. 

"Ok, good job," Ford said, and he tapped his ear piece. "Now let's see if anyone from Twenty Seven is still alive," Ford led them through the ship for almost forty minutes before his radio Crackled again. 

"Ford, this is the bridge."

"Go ahead Jac-bot," Ford said.

"Erusha and Lyspin are outside the bridge and they want to know what's going on," Jackson explained. 

"Tell them to stay there, we're on our way," Ford said, waving Colt and Natock to the bridge. 

When Ten reached the bridge they saw the two armored Jaffa standing outside the door way, with their staff weapons aimed at the door of the bridge. Jackson stood just inside, clutching his flame thrower, shouting at the Jaffa.

"Ok, everyone take a breath," Ford shouted. Erusha, Lyspin, and Jackson immediately pointed their weapons at Ford. "Everyone just lower your weapons for a minute so we can talk all this out. We all know Jac-bot is fine, so, guys, why did we lose radio contact with you two?"

"We lost our ear pieces," Erusha said, without lowering his staff weapon.

"Both of you?" Ford asked. "Do you see how I might find that...implausible?"

"Our ear pieces were knocked out when the pilot attacked us," Lyspin answered.

"Both of you," Colt repeated incredulously. 

"Fine," Lyspin finally said. "His was knocked out, and I broke mine. It was in my armor when I was slammed to the deck. I hate wearing it."

"He has said that in the past," Natock told Ford. 

"I'm still not convinced," Ford said. 

"And I'm not convinced you're the real Ford," Jackson called out of the doorway. "You let Carter get killed."

"Destroyed," Colt corrected.

"I have no way of knowing for sure that none of you are infected," Jackson replied. 

"Right," Ford agreed. "Ok, so this is what we're going to do, everyone just stay where you are. No one move or fire while Colt figures this out."

"Wait, what?" Colt asked.

"You brought the tablet with the translated logs, right?" Ford asked. 

"Yeah!" Colt said as he slipped off his back pack and pulled out the tablet. 

"Ok, so Colt's going through the information on this organism, and he's going to find a way to test us all to see if anyone else is infected," Ford called out. "So everyone just relax, and keep an eye out for monsters, or aliens."

"We're all aliens," Jackson said, dryly from the doorway.

Colt leaned against the hallway wall for half an hour while he scanned the analysis that he downloaded from the ship's computer. "Ok, I think I got something."

"Ok, everyone, Colt has something," Ford called out.

"According to all the data that they had on this organism," Colt began. "It has an involuntary response to heat and pain."

"How does that help us?" Ford asked. 

"When you blasted Lewis in the face, it reverted into some random form, and so did Dalen. All we have to do is inflict some pain on everyone and see who grows tentacles," Colt said. 

"Well, I can't just shoot everyone in the face," Ford snapped at Colt. 

"And I'm not standing in front of a flame thrower to prove I'm a human!" Haber yelled from inside the bridge. 

"You may not have to," Colt explained . "I think all it will take is just a tiny cut from a heated blade." 

"So you want to cut me and burn me to prove I'm human?" Haber asked, in disbelief. 

"He said 'little' cut," Ford dismissed. "You'll get a cool scar, and a story you can..."

"Never tell anyone," Jackson cut him off. 

"So, you'll have to settle for a cool scar," Ford said, as he drew out his K-Bar knife and walked over to Jackson and held the blade in front of his flame thrower. Ford pulled up the left sleeve of his BDU and held the knife over the "U.S.M.C." tattoo on the inside of his forearm. Then he shook his head and turned his arm over. "I can't cut that."

As Ford pressed the hot blade against his skin he looked at the robot Jackson. The android just looked at Ford and shrugged, and then made a slightly disgusted look at the smell of the burned flesh. Ford held the knife in front of the flame thrower again for a moment. Then he waved Colt over. 

Colt pushed his rifle to the side and pulled up his sleeve and held his arm out for the knife. As it drew closer to his skin Colt yanked his arm away, and Natock instantly aimed his rifle at Colts' head. 

"No, not my arm!" Colt said. Then he pulled the collar of his BDU to the side. "Put it right here, on my collar bone."

Natock rolled his eyes and sighed as he lowered his rifle. Ford glared at Colt for a second before pressing the hot knife to his flesh. 

"Son of Bitch! That really hurt," Colt yelled as he stood beside Ford and pulled his rifle back in front of him. "Woo! Ok, Natock, your turn."

The Jaffa walked over and held out his arm. Ford pressed the blade against his skin, but Natock showed no sign of pain. Erusha and Lyspin looked at each other and carefully approached Ford. Erusha was first, and then Lyspin. Neither Jaffa showed any signs of change. Everyone sighed and relaxed slightly. 

"Ok, Haber, you're up," Colt said.

"What? No, I've been with Jackson this entire time," Haber declared.

"You could have been infected before we arrived," Ford said, holding out the faintly glowing knife. "You're getting the knife of the rifle. Natock?"

The Jaffa instantly raised his rifle and aimed at Haber's face. Erusha and Lyspin instantly pointed their staff weapons at the scientist as well. 

"Wait, wait, wait, there has to be some kind of blood test or something you can do," Haber complained. 

"If there was a Carter here I'm sure she could come up with some ingenious, painless test, but all I have is a Colt," Ford said.

"Hey!" Colt snapped.

"And there is nothing painless when you have a Colt," Ford continued. "So, come on, sleeve up." 

Haber looked around, but no one was proposing any alternatives. He hesitated, and then slowly began to pull up the sleeve on his BDU. His hands shook as he stood there waiting for Ford to come over and burn him.

"It barely hurts," Ford coaxed Haber as he grabbed the scientist's wrist and held it tightly. "You probably won't even really feel it."

Ford pressed the blade against the back of Haber's wrist. The scientist shrieked and began jumping up and down. Ford quickly let go of him and stood back to get out of the line of fire, grabbing his rifle with one hand and raising it towards Haber. 

"Barely feel it! That hurt like Hell!" Haber screamed. 

Ford waited a few seconds for the scientist to calm down, before he relaxed and let his rifle hang from its sling. 

"Well, that's everyone," Colt said. 

"Not everyone," Ford disagreed, looking into the bridge at Robinson's unconscious body.

Everyone entered into the bridge and surround Robinson. Ford held the knife in front of the flame thrower for a moment, before he crept over to Robinson and crouched down behind him. Ford grabbed Robinson's wrist and glanced Back at Colt and Natock. They both nodded that they were ready if Robinson exploded. Erusha and Lyspin aimed their staff weapons at him as well. Ford took a deep breath and pressed the blade against the inside of Robinson's wrist. 

The unconscious man instantly began screaming. Ford dove sideways to keep from being blasted in the crossfire, but no one fired. 

"What the HELL?" Robinson screamed, as he rolled away and tried to sit up. 

"Sorry, we just needed to make sure you were still, you," Ford apologized. "Colt, cut him loose." 

"Dr. Jackson, this is Ford, we're coming up," Ford said tapping his ear piece. 

"Dr. Jackson, can you confirm that?" He replied on the radio. 

"This is Jackson," Jac-bot began, "As far as I can tell no one in this group is infected."

"Then come on up."

"All right, let's go," Ford said, waving the group forward.

They picked up the second Dr. Jackson on the way out of the ship and hurried across the dark landscape towards the camp. It was slow going over rough volcanic terrain using only flashlights with scientists trying to keep up. The moons of that world were numerous, but small and distant. They cast almost no more light than the stars. 

Ford kept trying to radio the camp, but never got a response. When they were finally close enough Natock was the first to notice the sounds of rifle fire and plasma blasts in the distance. Smoke and several fires could be seen from half a mile out. 

"Spread out, find the Carter that we left behind," Ford ordered, as he darted into the wreckage of the camp. 

Two small pockets of survivors were firing on each other close to the gate. None of them responded to calls on their coms. 

"She's over here!" Jac-bot called out to Ford. 

Ford sprinted over to the remains of Carter and started searching her body. 

"Ford, what are you doing, Humpty-Carter is broken, you can't put her together again," Colt said, his rifle trained on the groups ahead of them. "The fire fight is over there!"

"This is important," Ford growled, as he pulled something from the left thigh pocket of her torn off leg and he jammed it into his right thigh pocket before standing up and pulling his rifle in front of him. "Ok, let's go."

Ford grabbed the shoulder strap of the destroyed Carter's flame thrower and hauled it up from the ground. He slung it over his left shoulder and started towards the firefight. When they were within fifty feet of the shooting Ford called out from behind one of the massive boulders that dotted the field by the gate.

"Cease fire!" Ford screamed, again and again until the last plasma blast streaked through the night, and several seconds passed. "This is Sergeant Ford, I'm coming out, do not fire!"

Ford shrugged the flame thrower off and dropped it behind the rock as he lifted his rifle and slowly crept out into the open. 

"Ok, what the hell?" Ford yelled. 

"They're infected!" Both groups began to yell at Ford. 

Ford rolled his eyes, and then snapped. "Cummings, what happened?"

"Werner came back infected, and he tore up the camp. He turned into a monster and then it attacked us and it took Allen," Cummings yelled back. 

"Lorkal, what happened?" Ford called out to the Jaffa in the other group.

"We were separated when the creature attacked. Since I was unable to assist SG 17, I followed my secondary orders and secured the remaining personnel. When we attempted to regroup with the rest of 17, they accused us of being infected and began firing upon us," Lorkal answered. 

"They are infected!" Nowinksi yelled as she poked her head around one of the boulders. "I saw the creature grab Lorkal."

"Liar! The beast never touched me!" Lorkal shouted. Dr. Moreno was crouched beside Lorkal until the shouting started, stood up halfway and moved towards the DHD, but Cummings fired at him again. In an instant the firefight was back in full force. Moreno dodged the blasts and dove back behind his cover next to Lorkal. 

"Cease Fire!" Ford began yelling again. When the firefight finally stopped Ford began shouting again. "Lower your weapons. I need all of you to lay your weapons down."

"I'm not laying my weapon down, they're infected!" Cummings shouted. 

"That's exactly what you're going to do. Everyone is going to disarm and submit to testing. Once we determine who is who you're weapons will be returned to you," Ford ordered.

"You know how to figure that out?" Cummings asked.

"Yes."

"Then you need to test Lorkal first," Cummings yelled.

"He doesn't think I'm infected, he hates me because I am Jaffa," Lorkal snapped. 

"That's not true. Cummings, tell him that's not true," Ford called out and waited. Several seconds passed, but Cummings said nothing. "Of for...damn it Cummings! He's on your team."

"Not by my choice," Cummings responded. 

"That's it. I'm sick of this," Ford muttered to Colt. Ford stood up and walked out into the open, pointing his rifle at the ground. Colt, Natock, and Jackson followed him out into the open. Everyone put your damn weapons down and come out." 

"Ignore that order!" Cummings shouted. "We don't know that you're not infected." Beside Cummings, Nowinski and Scott stayed behind their cover. Then Scott aimed his rifle at Ford while the rest of Seventeen kept their rifles aimed at Lorkal.

"The organism can't mimic inorganic material like plastic or metal," Ford called out. "We still have two androids that can vouch for us not being infected." 

Colt tightened his grip on his rifle, and kept it pointed at the ground in the direction of Cummings and the rest of Seventeen. Infected or not, Colt was sure that they would be the ones to start shooting. 

"Cummings, why are you all off coms?" Ford shouted at the Air Force Colonel. 

"When you let Werner get past you he came back here and infected Allen. Then Allen started using his coms to draw people out and eat them. Now why don't you..."

Cummings was cut off mid sentence by the emergence of the organism from the shadows between two tents. It moved with an unnatural speed despite its many uneven stumpy stalk shaped legs. The organism scurried toward the closest person, Lieutenant Scott (Scotty to everyone), and its long torso lurched up and a maw opened along its underbelly to reveal jagged glistening teeth. 

Scotty tried to lift his rifle, but shock slowed his reflexes, and the organism fell onto him. His scream was cut off by a wet crunching sound when the jaws closed on his chest. The organism crushed Scott to the ground. Ford was the first to begin firing plasma bolts at the creature, and the organism instantly began shrieking from three of the seven different mouths that were scattered over its torso. One of the screaming mouths came from the half melted face of Allen writhing on its side. It jerked sideways to avoid the increasing plasma fire, and then sprang several feet into the air and sprinted towards the dark forest, dragging the convulsing body of Scotty under it.

The plasma fire followed the organism into the shadows of the forest before it disappeared. A stunned silence fell on them and lasted for five whole seconds before everyone quickly turned their rifles back on each other. 

"Now everyone calm the SHIT down and act like professionals for one god, damn, minute!" Ford growled out to both groups. "Now let's all lower our rifles until we can figure out who's who." Ford began slowly lowering his rifle, but as he glanced back and forth between the groups and saw that no one was following his lead he just lifted his rifle back up. "God damn it." Ford mumbled. 

"Ford's right, just calm the shit down, and stop shooting," Colt snapped as he lowered his rifle slightly. 

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but, yes...listen to Colt," Ford followed. "We have a way to tell who is human, and who isn't." 

"How can I be sure you're not infected?" Cummings yelled back. 

"We have Jac-bot," Colt announced.

Ford rolled his eyes and sighed. "The organism can't mimic an android. Jackson can't be compromised, and he has been with us since we were all tested and proven human."

"It's true, I have," Jackson nodded. 

"So what's this test?" Cummings asked. 

"The organism can't sustain its disguise if it is exposed to...mild discomfort," Ford answered. 

"Mild?" Haber exclaimed.

"Shut up," Ford snapped. "I'm going to heat up the tip of my knife and touch your bare skin. The organism won't be able to maintain its camouflage. Everyone gets a new scar and then we all go home."

Ford took two steps towards Jackson as the android raised the end of his flame thrower. A brilliant gold plasma bolt flew past Ford's head and struck the tank on Jackson's back. The explosion lit up the camp for an instant. Jackson was destroyed immediately. Ford, Colt, and Natock were closest to Jackson, standing a dozen yards away, and all three were thrown by the explosion. 

The explosion blew Colt sideways, spinning him in the air before he landed hard on his back and had the wind knocked out of him. He struggled to roll over onto his stomach as he tried to remember how to breath. When it came back to him a few seconds later his mind cleared and he found himself facing away from the camp into the forest. 

Colt saw movement in the brush on the edge of the tree line and he forced himself to his feet. He lifted his rifle and peered through the scope. A small shape popped out of the brush just long enough for Colt's mind to identify it as what looked like a four foot tall rabbit with a six point rack growing from the top of its head.

"No shit, a Jackalope!" Colt muttered. The screams behind him began again and Colt turned to face them. The large indigenous creature ducked back into the brush and disappeared into the dark night. 

"Who fired at my Jac-bot?" Ford roared, as he got to his feet and lifted his rifle.

"It came from them," Cummings yelled, pointing at the four people by the gate. 

Ford pivoted and aimed his rifle at Lorkal, Kocher, Moreno and Renault. "Who was it, who fired?" 

Moreno, the chemist had no weapon in his hands, so he instantly raised them above his head and began stepping away from the group. "It wasn't me!"

"It came from behind me," Renault declared as he slowly lowered his rifle. "It was one of them."

"It was him," Kocher said, pointing at Lorkal. She began backing away from the Jaffa slowly. 

"It wasn't me. She fired at the robot!" Lorkal yelled, as he aimed his rifle at her. 

"He's lying, he's infected," she shrieked. 

Ford, Natock, and Colt quickly closed in on them as their protests and accusations became a screaming match. Ford crept closer and closer. He aimed the flashlight on his rifle at Lorkal's face, examining it for any sign that he wasn't an angry Jaffa warrior. Then Ford switched to Kocher. He couldn't see anything wrong with the female scientist either, and he knew they were just seconds away from firing on each other. 

Ford knew that if either of them fired, everyone else would start shooting too, and more people would die. He kept looking back and forth between their faces, until something about Lorkal caught his attention. Ford kept his light on the Jaffa's face as he shouted louder and louder until Lorkal turned his head to look at Ford. 

"Shoot her, she's infected!" Lorkal roared.

Clarity gripped Ford and his face relaxed as he squeezed the trigger, firing a plasma bolt into Lorkal's face. His head flopped back from a cloud of white smoke, and his body slumped to the ground. Ford stared at his motionless body. As each second passed Ford became more and more afraid he'd made a mistake. As he finally began to slowly turn his rifle on Kocher, Lorkal's body began to swell. 

Ford turned his rifle back on him. Lorkal continued to swell until his armor split open and his body burst. A stream tooth laced tentacles erupted upwards waving wildly. It sprayed chunks of flesh and visceral fluids around and the organism tried to force out jointed stalks. Ford was about to fire on it, but a shower of plasma bolts streaked passed him raining down on the creature, and destroying it completely. 

When the plasma stopped Ford aimed his rifle at Kocher. "Drop the weapon!"

She dropped the rifle, and held her hands up over her head. 

"What do we do now?" Cummings asked, as he tentatively lowered his rifle.

"Now everyone rolls up a sleeve," Ford growled at Cummings. 

Ford walked slowly, on unsteady legs over to a small smoldering fire and pulled out a piece of twisted, glowing metal and tested Kocher, followed by Dr. Moreno and Dr. Renault. Both winced in pain, but neither became a hellish mutant beast. Next Ford approached Cummings and Nowinski. He tested the young woman Nowinski first, and then he pressed the red hot metal against Cummings. Ford held it a few seconds longer than he did on anyone else, just to be sure.

"It doesn't matter though, the gate won't activate," Kocher growled.

"That's because I ordered Carter to pull the control crystal when we came back," Ford said, as he drew it from his thigh pocket. "I was ordered to make sure no one could leave until we had this under control."

Ford handed the crystal to Colt and pointed at the DHD. Colt took it and jogged over to the install the crystal again.

"I want a perimeter around the gate, that thing can come back at any second," Ford said, as he waved every one over towards the gate. "Eyes on the tree line, and no one breaks visual contact with the group again, not for any reason."

Once Colt had the crystal back in place he dialed Alpha. 

"Alpha base, this is Ford, we're coming back. We will surrender our arms upon arrival, and submit ourselves for testing," Ford said, loudly looking back at the group. "Respond when you are ready to receive us."

"Yes, Sergeant Ford," A voice cracked over his ear piece. A few minutes later the same voice told Ford to send everyone through. 

"Kocher, you first," Ford ordered. The scientist nodded and stepped through the gate. Ford waved everyone else through. Only Colt and Natock remained. They were crouched on one knee at each side of the gate with their rifles ready. When Ford stepped up to the event horizon he turned and signaled Colt and Natock to pass through. Natock passed Ford without a word and vanished into the gate. When Colt hopped up the steps he stopped just beside Ford and looked at him.

"How did you know? How did you know it was Lorkal, not Kocher?" Colt asked. 

"Lorkal was the First Prime for Asteroth," Ford answered. 

"What?"

"His forehead tattoo," Ford explained, without taking his eyes off the tree line ahead of him. "You said that the organism couldn't replicate glass or metal, so..."

"He didn't have the gold forehead crest?" Colt asked. "I didn't even notice."

"I mean...I was pretty sure he had been a First Prime," Ford shrugged. 

"Seriously? You just rolled the dice and blasted him in the face?" Colt asked, in shock.

"It was a fifty-fifty chance."

"Nice," Colt laughed, before he ran through the gate.

Ford waited for a few seconds, and he saw the creature shamble though the shadows of the tree line away from the furthers fire. Ford lifted his rifle and slowly walked backwards through the gate. For a second everything was light and the sense of falling. Then the brilliant light of Alphas two suns blinded him, but he didn't lower his rifle. Instead he shouted. "Close the Iris!"

Ford couldn't see, but he heard the iris close. He let out a long exhale and lowered his rifle. He felt someone take it from him, and he handed it over without struggle. He rubbed his eyes with his palms and waited for them to adjust to the light. When his eyes stopped watering Ford looked around and saw the fifty armed Marines standing around the group, rifles aimed at them. 

General Willis stood in front of Ford, who sat on a gurney in medical with his left arm out as a blood sample was being taken by a doctor in a hazmat suit. Everyone else was still under guard in medical. 

"Sir, we need to send a nuke through the gate right now, the highest yield we have. We need to vaporize that organism," Ford urged Willis.

"Or at least bury the gate," Colt added. 

"We are not burying that gate," A short, thin woman in a red hazmat suit stomped up beside Willis. "And we are not sending a nuclear device either." 

"Here we go," Colt mumbled. He knew that Gray had some absurd reason that they shouldn't do the only thing that made sense, and they were going to have to listen to it.

"That world is the richest source of Naquadah that we've ever found. It's not on any Goa'uld maps..." Gray began.

"That we know of," Colt interrupted.

"It's not occupied, and it hasn't been mined to near uselessness like some of the other worlds you've secured for us. We need this world, and we will take it!" Gray snapped at Ford.

"Will we?" Ford growled at her. "Are you going back with us?"

"You just don't get it!" Colt interjected. "This organism, is like...and organic version of the Replicators, and we let it out."

"He's right," Ford agreed. "We need to destroy this thing before it infests that entire world. If this spreads through the galaxy the Goa'uld are going to be the least of our problems."

"It ate three of our people, we have to do something and we have to do it now," Colt insisted. 

"We are doing something," Willis explained. "We've been redialing that world since you returned so that gate can't dial out." 

"We are going to do something, we're going to send more Marines with a contingent of Jaffa as support," Gray explained. 

"Sir?" Ford asked Willis.

"It's only a temporary measure," Willis confirmed. 

"Seriously," Colt added. "There's a full on Lovecraft monster shambling around the gate. Anyone that goes back there is just asking to get eaten! What we need to send a hundred Jac-bots, unless Gray's ready to pick up a rifle and go through the gate." 

"Mr. Hayes, you will conduct yourself with a proper military bearing," Gray snapped, at Colt.

"I'm a civilian," Colt scowled at her.

"That doesn't exempt you from the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and it won't protect you from prison," Gray countered. The entire infirmary burst into laughter. Gray's rage quickly shifted to confusion. 

"She hasn't read your file," Ford laughed to Colt.

"It would appear not," Natock agreed, from the foot of Colt's bed.

"You are going back, and securing that world," Gray insisted.

General Willis crossed his arms and stared at the floor for a moment. "You won't be going back."

"Yes, they will," Gray argued. 

"Colt is right," Willis announced.

"What?" Colt, Ford, and Gray asked all at once.

"Sending more Marines is just sending this organism more food. I'm sending an all artificial squad." 

"I'm sorry, what? I mean, who?" The new Jackson assigned to Ten asked. By the time that everyone reached the infirmary for testing another Jackson android was brought on line and updated with the memory of the Jackson that was assigned to SG Ten. Once his updates were complete he came to the infirmary to get caught up with everything that happened since his last memory update. 

"Not you Dr. Jackson," Willis began. "The SGC has been experimenting on upgraded artificial units." 

"That sounds ominous. Why does that sound, really ominous?" Jackson asked.

"They're making Terminators," Ford sighed. 

"Ahhhhhhhhhh! Terminators!" Colt blurted out as he bounced on his hospital bed.

"Upgraded combat units," Willis conceded.

"Who?" Ford asked. 

"Sergeant, you're going to P3X-989," Willis said. "You're going to Altair."

"Ha ha haaaa. You're going to be the Ford-n-ator!" Colt giggle.

"What about me? I want to be a clone too," Colt said to Willis, as he bounced eagerly on the gurney.

"Son, this universe ain't big enough for two of you," Willis commented before he waved Ford to follow him out of the infirmary. "Come with me Sergeant."


End file.
